Cicynna or Kikynna () was a
deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, bu ...
of
ancient Attica
The regions of ancient Greece were sub-divisions of the Hellenic world as conceived by the ancient Greeks, shown by their presence in the works of ancient historians and geographers or in surviving legends and myths.
Conceptually, there is no cl ...
of the ''
phyle
''Phyle'' (, ; pl. ''phylai'', ; derived from Greek , ''phyesthai'' ) is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphyletai'' () meaning 'fellow tribesmen'. During the late 6th century BC, Cleist ...
'' of
Acamantis
Acamantis () was one of the phyle, phylai (tribes) of classical Athens, created during the reforms of Cleisthenes. It was named after the legendary hero Acamas, son of Theseus, Acamas, and included the demes of
Holargos, Cholargos,
Eiresidai,
Herm ...
, sending two or three delegates to the
Athenian Boule.
It was the native deme of
Strepsiades
''The Clouds'' (, ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy theatre, play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the Dionysia, City Dionysia in 423BC and was not as ...
, the protagonist in
Aristophanes' ''
The Clouds
''The Clouds'' (, ''Nephelai'') is a Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. A lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens, it was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423BC and was not as well received as th ...
''. Representing the generality of the deme, Aristophanes depicts this character as a prosperous farmer and attentive to his lazy son. Probably Cicynna had his own
diasia, the most important festival to Zeus in Attica, in which the god was honored as
Zeus Meilichius: this is evident from a passage from the aforementioned comedy by Aristophanes. The party was held on the 23rd of
Anthesterion
The Attic calendar or Athenian calendar is the lunisolar calendar beginning in midsummer with the lunar month of Hekatombaion, in use in ancient Attica, the ancestral territory of the Athenian polis. It is sometimes called the Greek calendar beca ...
(around the beginning of March); the richest people offered sacrifices, and the poorest burned incense.
Its site is tentatively located near modern
Chalidou.
References
Populated places in ancient Attica
Former populated places in Greece
Demoi
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